Importance of non-medical reasons for dropout in patients on peritoneal dialysis

To describe the associated factors for non-medical reasons for dropout in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

A retrospective cohort study was performed using registry data of adult patients commencing PD as their initial renal replacement therapy in one hospital-facilitated PD center in Taiwan between 2014 and 2018. The collected data included socio-demographics and relevant medical and PD-related parameters. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to determine the impact of non-medical reasons and medical reasons on PD dropout.

The analysis included 224 PD patients, of whom 37 dropped out for non-medical reasons and 187 for medical reasons during the study period. There was significant difference between the two cohorts in age (62.3 years vs. 56.1 years, P = 0.010) and PD vintage (median 3.4 years vs. 4.8 years, P = 0.001). Diabetes was more predominant in the cohort for non-medical reasons than in the one for medical reasons (54.1% vs. 27.3% respectively, P = 0.001). In non-medical reason cohort, two leading reasons given for dropping out were lacking of caregivers (n = 12) and losing confidence (n = 10), whereas PD-related peritonitis (n = 101) was the main medical reason for PD dropout. Using Kaplan–Meier curve analysis, patients in the non-medical reason cohort demonstrated higher cumulative dropout rate compared to patients in the medical reason cohort during a 10-year period (P < 0.001).

The main characteristics of PD dropout patients for non-medical reasons are age, diabetes, patients’ perception and caregiver support.